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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To collect Reception age DS from school in a buggy?

313 replies

CoffeeMum · 03/04/2012 16:23

Theoretical question for now, as DS won't start Reception until September, but i'm just wondering...

I also have a DD, two years younger than DS, so she'll be in a buggy on the school run. I'd planned to pop her in the single buggy, with DS on foot [school is 15 minutes away from home]. We do also have a double buggy, which I was on the verge of getting rid of, but now I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to take the double buggy on the school run in the autumn. Sometimes it'll be raining, and we'll want to get home asap, rather than at child-pace Hmm, but mostly, because I think alot of the time during the first term, he's going to be shattered from starting school. On those days, i'd just pop him in the buggy.

However, would it be completely laughable to even think about putting a school age child in a buggy, no matter what [SN aside, obviously]? Do any of you put a Reception age child in a buggy, or know people who do? Is it very rare to do so?

Thanks for you thoughts all Smile

OP posts:
ragged · 03/04/2012 20:25

Fwiw, I used to work in the UK looking at park recreation (Uni academic, I stood & surveyed people in Birmingham parks asking them how they travelled & where from), & the 10 minutes thing was what we found, too. I just can't find any UK refs quickly! Found an Ozzie one, though reckon that will get scoffed at, too.

No one laughed because my 8yo in the child was mostly puking in a bucket at the time. And looked quite green rest of the time. Besides, don't people have better things to do? Confused

ragged · 03/04/2012 20:26

8yo in the BUGGY, even.

KitchenandJumble · 03/04/2012 20:28

It's true, most Americans rely far too much on their cars (I'm an American, by the way). I know someone who drives her 12-year-old to the school bus stop (a two minute walk), then has him wait in the car with her until the bus arrives. I think this wins the award for sheer insanity from two angles: PFB looniness and ridiculous over-reliance on cars.

A 4-year-old in a buggy doesn't come anywhere near that sort of madness. Though to be honest, I don't think I would use a buggy for a child of that age. Certainly not for an 8-year-old (SN excepted, of course)!

OctopusSting · 03/04/2012 20:28

I am with Flighty tbh.

I use my double and my reception child sits in it for some of the journey, up a hill, across country. Why the fuck shouldn't I??? Bullying wtf? Learned behaviour from most of the judgypants on MN I would imagine Hmm

No one EVER judges people who drive 1.25 miles. What is a car? a motorised buggy.

Makes my blood boil Angry

AThingInYourLife · 03/04/2012 20:30

Well nobody is going to laugh at a sick child, even if they are in a buggy at 8 years old.

I suspect you are right ragged about how lazy people are and how averse to walking.

I think it's something as a society we need to address though, if people won't even walk for 15 minutes.

Walking around doing routine tasks is good for health and community. A world where people drive everywhere is not a pleasant one, IMO.

TuftyFinch · 03/04/2012 20:31

Obesity is on the rise. People are wheeling 5 yr olds around in buggies. Is there a connection?

AThingInYourLife · 03/04/2012 20:32

"What is a car? a motorised buggy."

Confused

A car is not a motorised buggy.

You must be getting cars confused with motorised buggies.

M0naLisa · 03/04/2012 20:33

My 4yr old starts reception in September too and i got rid of my buggy over a year ago!! he walks everywhere. If i tried to get my 4 yr old in a buggy now hes kick off.

Whats wrong with his legs??

funkybuddah · 03/04/2012 20:33

I'm still aghast at people driving half a mile to school.

I make my dcs walk 1 mile to go to a park (i only realised its that far as have been using a tracker on phone) it doesn't seem that far when walking it and it only takes 20 mins and that's with tiny dd (4yrs)

bronze · 03/04/2012 20:37

Tufty I suspect the rise in obesity is probably more connected with diet, using cars too much and not enough exercise than 4-5 year olds using a pushchair for an odd journey when they are tired or it's pouring with rain.

ragged · 03/04/2012 20:45

The average UK urban walking trip is 0.6 miles. Meanwhile, 40% of urban car journeys are under 2 miles.
2011 Leeds Uni study using 800m as "roughly the acceptable distance" for places to be considered as being within reasonable walking distance. Ten minute walk/half mile really is a norm in the research area for what you can expect most people might walk. Only in good weather, of course.

ReallyTired · 03/04/2012 20:49

I think the kindest thing is to get your ds a scooter.

Or if your ds really can't cope with a scooter then something like this.

www.amazon.co.uk/Disney-Stabiliers-children-MANUFACTURERS-WARRANTY/dp/B005FZYD7Q/ref=pd_sim_sbs_k_h_b_cs_16

and put the younger child in a backpack. You could unclip the handle near the school gate if your ds wants to be cool but clip it back if he is deadly tired on a Friday afternoon.

CecilyP · 03/04/2012 21:13

That seems such a kerfuffle simply not to be seen to be pushing her DS in a buggy. She would have to carry her 2 year old in both directions while pushing a bike - empty in one direction; seating DS in the other.

simpson · 03/04/2012 21:16

DS (August born) never used the buggy to school (we live 10mins from school)

DD is due to start school in sept and while I am not planning to use the buggy, she is hyper mobile and complains her legs ache when she is tired so may use it from time to time, but certainly not every day.

She is lethal on her micro scooter Grin

Plaguegroup · 03/04/2012 21:17

Someone was getting a bit Hmm at my DS1 being in the double buggy the other day, we were at a park roughly 1.5 miles away from my house (so 3 mile round trip), she lives slightly closer and had driven there.

I use my double buggy instead of a car, if I need to get somewhere quickly and it's far enough that some people would consider driving then I don't feel guilty about putting DS in the buggy.

I wouldn't use the buggy for a 15 min school run though.

skybluepearl · 03/04/2012 21:25

My kid is likely to be too exhausted to walk 40 mins each way in the reception year and so I may have to use double buggy/scooter/balance bike too. Planning to play it by ear and see how exhausted they are. I think 15 mins should be do-able for most 4/5 year olds after a long day though. I wish my kids had boundless energy but they just don't. Threre are many who seem to bounce through the day and still have energy for play dates but mine are the opposite.

TuftyFinch · 03/04/2012 21:36

Bronze yes but it's still a small part of a wider picture. Were any of you in buggies at 4 or 5? Probably not. People seem afraid of their children being tired. Or going too slow. Or keeping them as toddlers. Those bikes with parent handles are for toddlers surely. Where's the fun in riding a bike if an adult is controlling it?

bronze · 03/04/2012 21:43

See my post, I was occassionally. My parents didn't drive so I walked a lot of the rest of the time. I still don't drive. I have never been overweight

BoffinMum · 03/04/2012 21:52

I used to stick DS2 on the back of a special small tandem, and it worked brilliantly. I got it for £199 from a local bike shop.

ReallyTired · 03/04/2012 22:12

The problem is that if you put your child in a pushchair for going to school then the will get BULLIED. People are very judgemental and small children are even more judgemental than mumsnet.

I can sympathise that many kids are deadly tired after a day in reception in the first term. I had to carry my son home on piggy back a couple of times when he was completely washed out with tireness.

its not unheard of for some summer born children to fall asleep in the afternoon much to the annoyance of the reception teacher.

VelmaDaphne · 03/04/2012 22:21

I haven't read the whole thread and I'm not sure if you're still reading OP, but I understand where you're coming from. DS1 is an August child, so he was young to be at school anyway, and was totally shattered at the end of the day for the first couple of terms.

I wouldn't put him in buggy though, because he will get teased. I used a buggy-board quite often, and then a scooter, which is far less tiring than walking.

Incidentally, my DS is neither lazy nor overweight. He is very active, always running around outside, doesn't have games consoles or any of that stuff. But at the end of the day he's tired, and the walk home felt like a final mountain to climb when he was in reception.

TuftyFinch · 03/04/2012 22:25

I do accept they get tired, DS is in Reception. He is lucky that his classroom has a sofa in the play corner and his teacher let's them have a little sleep if they're tired. I don't think a buggy is the answer though, other children will notice and they will comment. How about a bike for you and the DC in a trailer? Valdosta have them for about £70 at the moment.

CecilyP · 03/04/2012 22:29

More judgemental than mumsnet? Surely not!

OctopusSting · 03/04/2012 22:52

All I can say is that I am glad of where I live as dd has never been teased or bullied.

Some tolerance would not go amiss for other peoples choices.

fromheretomaternity · 03/04/2012 22:58

Deffo scooter. All the kids at our local school have them.

But I'd probably take the double buggy just in case he flakes out completely halfway home.